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A thick green lawn will do much to help keep weeds to a minimum.

With Ontario’s new Cosmetic Pesticide Ban, keeping weeds out of lawns is going to be more difficult than in the past. The products that are currently available do not work as effectively or as efficiently as the traditional, now banned, weed killer products.

There is a new product or two on the horizon that are supposedly going to be much more reasonable in effectiveness and cost. But that is still in the future.

Fiesta Weed Control on Dandelion

There are 2 approaches to weed management.

1.Concentrate our efforts on building a strong and healthy turf population to crowd out and resist weeds. Many of our customers with reasonably healthy lawns are choosing this method and have elected to use our Root Proliferator treatment to boost root density in the soil profile. Weed treatments per se are not used.

2.Use the weed management products that are currently available but recognize that they may fall short of the expectations that we were accustomed to in the past. Spot treatments are used to combat existing weeds. (up to 25% coverage).  Not all weeds are susceptible to these treatments.

(Severe problems with weeds will require extensive and more costly applications. Cost will be dependent on your individual weed situation.)

Please pull a few weeds when you see them starting to sprout. Even if you get only half of the root of a small dandelion, it will probably die. On the other hand, leaving 10% of large dandelion root behind is often enough for that dandelion to sprout up again.

Ways to discourage weeds using the first approach of building up the lawn include:

Granular Compost applications - adding organic matter to improve soil structure

Root proliferator treatments - to crowd out weeds

Aerating and overseeding - to improve turf density

Please call if you would like to add any of these types of treatments to your program

 

THINGS YOU CAN DO to maintain a thick, green and healthy lawn.

Watering - Water deeply. Light watering encourages shallow rooting which makes for weaker grass and thatch formation. Water about once a week on average. The lawn needs about 1" of water per week. Check your sprinkler by placing a tin can on the lawn to see how long it takes to get 1" of water on your lawn.

Mow right away. Don't allow the grass to get too long between mowings. If you cut off too much at once, the grass will go brown. Removing more than 1/3 of the plant is very hard on the roots. Keep your blade sharp.

Mow high. Keep your mowing height at 3" for most of the season. A higher cut will provide more shade and keep the soil cooler and moister. The extra shade also discourages weeds, crabgrass and insect pests. Mow shorter near the end of the season, especially the last cut.

Thatch - Excessive thatch favours disease development and will harbour insects. Aerations are one way to reduce thatch. Rake the lawn in the spring to dislodge surface thatch.

Fill in bare or thin areas with new grass. Weeds and crabgrass are less likely to get started in your lawn if you can get grass growing first. Grass seed will grow fairly early in the year before crabgrass or many weeds are active, but will sprout at any time if kept constantly moist. Fall is the best time to seed (Late Aug thru Sept). Use “endophytic” perennial rye seed turf-type grass that naturally resists insects.

 

The appearance of a healthy, thick, green lawn is not spoiled by a  few weeds


 If you have a lawn/tree/shrub that needs some Tender Loving Care- get The KING OF GREEN:

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or call us at 905.318.6677 or 1.888.TURFKING (887.3546)

 If you would like more information, please Contact us

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Copyright 2012 Turf King-Hamilton. All Rights Reserved.

 If you have a lawn/tree/shrub that needs some Tender Loving Care- get The KING OF GREEN:

Home Page

or call us at 905.318.6677 or 1.888.TURFKING (887.3546)

 If you would like more information, please Contact us

Follow us on Twitter  http://twitter.com/turfkingofgreen

Join our Facebook page  

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